Music Implementation Software “MusiCurve”
WINNER 2022 | Category: Product
Entrant
why do birds GmbH
Abstract
“MusiCurve” is an easy-to-use software tool that allows users to change the intensity of a given music piece and adapt it to the storyline of a film. It’s created for people with little or no knowledge of music software, who have no budget to hire a sound studio. The tool is browser-based and there is no need to download or install anything.
Description
Companies are producing large amounts of video content for social media, events staging, product explanations etc.. The amount is steadily growing whilst budgets for its production keep sinking. A large proportion of the perceived quality of a video lies in its soundtrack and how well this fits to the presented images.
Often there’s no budget for hiring a sound studio and creating an original soundtrack for the videos, so the video editors need to research music from stock libraries that seldom fit well to the presented content. The result hardly impresses the viewer.This is where “MusiCurve” steps in: An easy-to-use software that allows you to flexibly adapt music pieces and make it fit to any content.
The MusiCurve software works as a browser app. It allows users to change the intensity of a given music piece and adapt it to the dramaturgy of any video. The possibilities of intervention in the music are limited, so that the user cannot do anything “wrong“, and the result will always be a high-quality piece of music.
The target group are employees and designers with little or no knowledge of music software. Therefore, simplicity was key to make MusiCurve a success. No extra software needs to be downloaded. Just enter the web address and start.
The project began with employee and agency interviews to identify needs and to understand how they operate with music on video. User testings were conducted regularly during the project development. The development for the first working prototype took over a year. It took another year until MusiCurve was launched with a first client.Regular feedback-rounds with users have been installed for the clients that lead to constant improvements, updates and the development of extra functions.
The software is browser based as employees in large enterprises often are not allowed to download and install apps onto their work computers. The user can open a website, enter a password, and start the working process by choosing a music piece from a variety of different style categories. He can upload the video that needs a soundtrack into the browser window and start working straight away. By simply drawing a curve stating where in the video’s story the intensity of the music should be high or low the music will adapt to dramaturgy. Furthermore, it is possible to adjust the volume of the music in relation to a possible voice-over used in the video.